Cursed Spring of Drowned Girl Strikes Again!
by Ranmano1fan
Summary: You'd think Akane falling into the Cursed Girl spring would be no problem, right? Well what if it was a problem? How would she deal with it? What about everyone else? You're gonna have to read it to find out what happens.
1. Chapter 1

**Cursed Spring of Drowned Girl Strikes Again!**

By: Ranmano1fan

Requested by: tehninjabunneh from DeviantArt

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><p>For close to the last 2 years Akane Tendo's life has been turned upside down with the arrival of Ranma Saotome. Her father and his father had agreed their children would wed one another and inherit her father's dojo. While at first both teenagers rejected the idea of marriage and fought against it at every turn, over time their feelings for each other grew and blossomed into love. Neither of them were willing to voice it outloud, but both knew it was there. And just as the girl was ready to accept her life the way it was, it was once again turned upside down during a small vacation both families took together to a certain place where there was some unfinished business that needed to be dealt with first.<p>

"Did we _have_ to come here? Wouldn't've been better to have them send another barrel?" asked Akane with her fiancè a few steps behind her.

The girl had a small frown on her face as her and her family, along with the Saotome's, were making a trek thru the semi-dense, half-way mountainous jungles of China's Qinghai Province on their way towards Mount Quanjing in the Bayankala Range. It had been 2 days since they left Nerima by way of boat, they would've gotten to China sooner if the 2 fathers had picked a better boat to travel.

Ranma agreed with her, "Yeah, it's not like we couldn't make a phone call."

"After what happened, the three of us agreed this way would be better. Not only are we going to cure Ranma's curse, we'll also be able to cure his father's curse as well," replied Soun, referring to him and Ranma's parents.

The boy rolled his eyes, "I don't see why, he was the one that started it."

Akane's father looked back from his spot at the front of the pack and reminded him, "We have to be fair."

"You mean like how it's only fair that since he was cursed that I had to be cursed too?" wondered Ranma.

"Why are you being so snippy, boy?" asked Genma as he walked along with his long time friend.

"Let me think," replied his son, sarcastically, "It must be because it's _your_ fault this all happened in the first place?"

Genma turned and faced his son with a scowl on his face, "When you dedicate your life to learning the Arts, boy, don't go complaining about how perilous the journey is."

"And I told you once before: 'my life, yes, my manhood is another story'," replied Ranma with a spark of anger.

"Either way," spoke Nodoka, who was standing between them, "No matter how we got here, we're here now and we must resolve this problem before we can start planning another wedding for you two."

Akane looked down at the woman's words and said, "And the cure wasn't what I was talking about. I just don't like this place."

Being the only other member of the party that really knew what she was talking about, Ranma forgot all about the conversation he was having with his father for the moment and thought back to the events that happened during their last visit to the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo. The memories of that day flashed in his mind. Seeing his fiancèe dehydrated into the form of a doll, fighting one of his most formidable opponents for the only way to save her life and finally having Akane in his arms just after she was given the Water of Life, but it looked to have been too late to save her. But just as quickly as the memories came, they disappeared with the sound of a picture being taken.

"I don't see why you hate it here, Akane," said Nabiki, taking up the rear with her camera to her face, "It looks so serene."

"I agree," added Kasumi, right beside her sister, "With all the beautiful trees and everything else around you'd never think a place like Jusenkyo existed."

Ranma answered her, "Well unfortunately it does, I just hope we can get what we came for and then get the hell out of here before anything else can go wrong."

By the time they reached the entrance to the Cursed Springs it was starting to get late, with the sun hanging low in the sky. It was already after noon when they had gotten to the shoreline and if it hadn't been for some sightseeing by more than half of the group they would've been quicker to their destination.

Akane's father and sisters and Ranma's mother stood there in awe at the sight of more than 100 springs of every size littered across the landscape with the mountain in the background. Nabiki flashed a picture to capture the moment. Ranma and Akane however couldn't take in the view, not with the memories they brought back

"Ok, let's go," said the boy as he started towards the direction of the guide's house close by.

Akane was right behind him, while everyone else stayed by the entrance. When the first few knocks on the door weren't answered the two teens thought something might be wrong, that is until the door opened and they had to look down at who answered it.

"Aiya! It Mr. and Mrs. Customer," said the little girl.

"Hi Plum," answered Akane happily, "Is your father around?"

"Yes, he is," she replied, before calling out, "Father! We have customers!"

It was only a minute or two before the man appeared, "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Customer, welcome back to Jusenkyo," he said, then it looked as if he remembered something, "But why you return? Thought Mr. Customer was cured of curse?"

Ranma had put on an uneasy smile as he explained, "We kinda had a mishap with the water you sent us. Her father wouldn't give it up until after we were married and then my father stole the barrel after he found out what it was, then an old prune drank it all cause he thought it was sakè and finally the wedding itself fell into chaos."

"Aiya, that is troubled news Customer bring," said the Jusenkyo guide.

"But why you no call for new barrel of water?" wondered Plum.

Akane answered this time, "Our parents said this would be better, so we can cure both Ranma and his father."

Giving a nod, the guide told them, "No trouble, we fix this right away."

It didn't take the man long before he joined up with his visitors, his daughter right behind him with a notepad in her hands. Slowly he began to show them to where the Spring of Drowned Man was, though he was also giving them a tour of the place at the same time. With each spring they passed his daughter would call out the name of it and the guide would tell them a little of each curse that went along with it.

"Here Spring of Drowned Frog, and that Spring of Drowned Cat, Spring of Drowned Panda, Spring of Drowned Fish and Spring of Drowned Pig," explained the guide as they walked.

"'Spring of Drowned Fish'?" repeated Soun.

"Yes, very tragic tale of fish who 'drown' in dried up springbed over 1000 year ago, now whoever fall in spring take body of fish," said the man.

"Now I've heard of everything," replied Ranma with a groan.

His comment made Akane giggle.

"This Spring of Drowned Girl," stated the guide, passing by the pool of water.

The boy stopped for a few seconds and stared into the water, he couldn't get over the memories of falling into the spring and coming out in the form of a red-headed girl.

Akane came up behind him and placed a hand on her fiancè's shoulder, "You okay?"

He said softly, "For so long I've been used to becoming a girl when splashed with cold water, it's almost hard to believe it'll be over soon."

She smiled and agreed with him, "Yeah, it'll definitely be a change, but not something we can't handle."

He looked at her and gave a small chuckle, "You're probably right."

"Hey, boy, pay attention!" shouted his father, who was standing with the group around a very nearby body of water.

The two teens joined the others as the guide was explaining, "This spring you looking for: Spring of Drowned Man. Water from spring will cure both Mr. Customers."

"You're joking, right?" asked Ranma as he pointed behind him, "We're barely ten feet from the Drowned Girl spring, why didn't you tell us it was this close when we were first cursed?"

"Mr. Customer not ask at time," answered the guide, "You more worried about getting dry than cured."

Putting his face in his hand, Ranma said, "Nevermind. It's getting late and I'd like to get back on the boat before it's too dark."

"Okay then, Mr. Customers," started the guide. He placed a bucket into the water and filled it halfway, "Which one first?"

"I'll go first," said Ranma as he took the bucket and stepped away from the spring.

Before he could get the bucket over his head his father grabbed it and said, "Why should you go first? I'm your father, I should be first."

This time Genma tried to get the bucket over his head, but his son grabbed it and tried to take it back, "It's your fault we were cursed, old man. I should go first."

"As your teacher I'm telling you to let it go, boy," ordered his father, pulling back on the bucket.

As they played tug-of-war and each of them took a embraced stance, the water inside the bucket was getting splashed around them and it seemed neither side was going to give in before the other.

Akane got a few feet behind her fiancè and urged, "Ranma let him have it, you can have the next one."

"She's right, boy, let your father go first," said Genma as he gave the bucket a pull.

"It would be just as easy for you to give this one up and take the next one, old man," snapped back the boy with a yank of the bucket.

"He's right, my friend," replied Soun, "There's no harm in waiting."

"Dear, why not let our son be cured first?" asked Nodoka.

"Because as his father I deserve some respect from him," answered the man, giving the bucket a hard tug away from his only child.

"Respect my ass. With everything you've done to me, respect is the last thing you'll get!" yelled the boy.

"Ranma..." said Akane, her voice filled with concern.

"Now... give... it... up!" finished Ranma as he pulled the bucket out of his father's hands.

Unfortunately he pulled it away with a little too much force and wasn't expecting to come away with the bucket. The remaining water came out and splashed down onto the ground. The boy's momentum caused him to take a few steps backwards and he ran into an unexpecting Akane before falling down. All eyes were on the two of them as she couldn't keep her balance and staggered backwards towards a spring.

Ranma looked back in time to see his fiancèe fall, "Akane!"

A loud splash drowned him out while everyone else watched. The boy quickly got up and started for the spring, but was stopped by his father.

Turning around he said, "What's wrong with you? We need to get her out of there!"

"Use your head, boy, you want to add on to your own curse?" answered his father.

Realizing it a second later, he went towards the guide, "Tell us, what spring did she fall into?"

The guide had a look of terror on his face when he replied, "S-spring of Drowned Girl."

Ranma let out a sigh, "Then she's okay, right? She won't get cursed, she'll just drown."

Opening his eyes wide, he repeated his own words, "She'll drown, Akane can't swim!"

"Spring not deep, she no drown," explained the guide, "But there big problem."

With a confused look, the boy asked, "What's the problem?"

Before the guide could answer, another loud splash stole all the attention away and the entire group of people saw a hand break the surface of the pool. They all stared as Akane began to drag herself out of the spring, coughing and gasping for air.

"Akane!" shouted the boy and he ran over to her.

The girl kept her head down as she continued to cough, unable to take a deep enough breath to fill her lungs with a proper amount of oxygen that would allow her to speak, a heavy tightness in her chest being at fault.

Ranma couldn't tell if it was the red setting sun glistening off his fiancèe's wet hair or if his eyes were playing a trick on him, but something seemed different to him as he saw Akane on her hands and knees mere feet away from the Drowned Girl spring.

He walked closer to her and asked with an uncertain tone, "Akane? Are you okay?"

The girl looked up at him with her brown eyes and said, "I-I think so," then she gave a few more coughs as she tried to take a couple of deeper breaths again.

Ranma couldn't find the right words to say on the situation and could only stare at Akane with his mouth slightly agape. She quickly noticed her fiancè's face wasn't the only one that had a dumbfounded look, she saw it on nearly everyone else.

She sat on her knees and wondered, "What's wrong? Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

Ranma at least knew why he was looking at her that way, he was closer than anyone else so he could tell there were changes. He noticed how her damp sweatshirt laid upon her chest and how it looked tighter than normal. He could also see the top part of her white panties as her light sweatpants weren't as tight as they should've been and fell slightly onto her hips as she sat there.

"You don't notice anything different about you, sis?" asked Nabiki, before she started searching for something in her bag.

"Not really, why?" replied the girl, sounding and looking confused.

Her fiancè told her, "You fell in a spring."

Akane gasped and turned around, she saw the wet trail behind her that lead to one of the springs. She started to cry as she asked, "Which one?"

"The Drowned Girl spring," answered the boy.

She looked at him and rubbed her eyes, "Then... I'm okay, right?"

Ranma shook his head, "Not exactly."

With another confused look, Akane started out with, "What do you mean..." before looking down at herself for the first time. Her scream managed to frighten off a few birds hanging out in the trees nearby.

"Akane..." began Ranma before she cut him off.

"What happened to me?" yelled the girl, she put her hands on her chest and added, "Where in the world did _these_ come from?"

"Akane, calm down," repeated the boy.

She continued, sounding a bit more distraught, "Is there anything else different with me?"

Nabiki walked up to her sister and handed her a compact mirror from her bag, "Just take a look."

When the youngest girl saw her reflected image she let out another horrified scream that scared a few more nearby birds, "My hair! What happened to my hair!"

"Akane, just calm down," repeated her fiancè.

She continued some more, not paying him any mind, she looked past her chest and immediately saw her panties were showing. She tried to cover them up and screamed once again, sounding as though she was about to lose her mind, "Why are my sweatpants so loose? Just what in the hell happened to me!"

"Please calm down, Akane," said the boy one more time.

"No, I will not calm down," shouted the girl as she quickly tried to stand up, "Not until... whoa!"

Not used to the new weight on her chest, Akane's unsteady equilibrium caused her to fall forward, luckily Ranma was right there to catch her. She looked up into his blue eyes and started to blush, for she could feel his arm pressed against her new assets. He had felt her new cup size rub against his arm as he caught her and he blushed just as badly as she did as he looked into his fiancèe's eyes.

"Not...un-until...um..." Akane seemed unable to gather the right words to finish her sentence.

Ranma nodded, still blushing, "Right, we need to fix you first."

"That not possible," commented the guide.

Both teens looked at him confused at what he had said.

Ranma took off his shirt and draped it over Akane's shoulders to cover her up, keeping his hands there to hold her steady and he asked, "What do you mean it's not possible?"

The guide told the teenagers, "You come inside, others stay out here," and showed them back to his house with Plum right behind him.

The engaged couple looked at each other and then followed the man, leaving the rest of their troope by the springs. Akane had her hands on Ranma's arm to help her keep her balance as they walked, she still wasn't used to her new center of gravity, but was slowly getting the hang of it.

Once inside, the guide started a fire underneath a cauldron of water in which he motioned for his guests to sit by, "I sorry, but it not possible to help her."

After Ranma helped Akane to sit he sat down beside her and asked again, "What do you mean?"

"Mr. Customer will see for self when water is hot, but I explain," started the man.

He walked over to a bookshelf and pulled down what looked like an old book, it had no title and the cover was worn and cracked in spots. Plum sat down close to the fire as if her father was about to tell a story. The only thing the two teenagers could do while they waited was to listen to what the guide had to say.

He opened the book, turned a few pages and slowly explained, "My family has guarded springs for very long time. These are tales from past about them that are mysterious in many ways. This most unusual tale they offer."

The guide walked over to the teens and showed them what was in the book. Though they couldn't read the words, the crude illustrations were another story. The first was of what looked like a man and the second was of a woman.

The guide continued, explaining the drawings as he pointed to them, "When one comes in contact with water from spring they take form of what drowned in spring with cold water and change back with hot."

"We know that already," interrupted Ranma, seeing the guide was taking about the Nyannichuan spring specifically, "But what about Akane?"

The man showed them the next set of pages. On them was an image of a second woman and the next one was of the first woman. He then showed them a third drawing, of yet another woman, but this one had most of the second's features overlapped by those of the first.

He finished, "But when what fall in spring same form as what drowned, instead of curse like Mr. Customer's, new cursed form made and two sides become one."

"'Two sides become one'?" repeated the girl, it sounded as though she was letting the statement sink in.

"Yes," nodded the man, "As Mrs. Customer see, body change to that of girl who drown in spring 1500 year ago. Only face remain the same."

The guide closed the book and put it back in it's place, then walked to the cauldron, took a ladel and came out with some water. He placed a finger in to check the temperature. When he nodded it told the teens it was hot enough. Ranma had expected the man to give the ladel to him, but without warning he instead flung the water at the girl.

"Ah!" she screamed as she was splashed, unable to get her hands up in time.

Akane immediately grabbed the compact mirror Nabiki had handed her earlier and checked her reflection again, but there was no difference.

"Why didn't it work?" she wondered as she looked from the mirror to the guide with droplets of water falling from her new red hair.

"That unfortunate side effect," answered the man sadly, "No amount of hot water will change Mrs. Customer back. This form permanent."

The girl dropped her gaze to the ground, hardly believing what she just heard. _'It's permanent?'_ she thought, _'What do I do now?'_

Ranma noticed the concerned look on his fiancèe's face and could only guess at what she was thinking. He knew what it was like to be cursed, but her situation was something completely different than his. Being burdened with a curse was the one thing he had hoped Akane would never have to go through, let alone having her deal with being stuck in cursed form with no way of changing back.

"So there's nothing we can do?" the boy kept his eyes on her when he asked, he wanted to be absolutely sure they both heard the guide correctly.

The guide shook his head, "Nothing. I sorry for Mrs. Customer, only wish I able to do more."

"You've done enough for us, thank you," said Ranma.

"Father, it getting late maybe customers stay for night?" asked Plum.

"They want to stay, they can," replied the man with a nod.

Akane bowed her head a little, "Thank you, sir."

"I'll go tell the others," the boy stood up, he put a hand on his fiancèe's shoulder, "Will you be okay?"

She spoke quietly and nodded, though she didn't look up at him, "Yeah."

Ranma went to the door, turned the knob and opened it slightly. He took one last look at Akane, she still had her head down and her eyes had a sort of distant look in them, closed his eyes and gave a sigh, for he knew that this too was something the both of them would have a difficult time getting through.

The boy pulled the door open and called to the rest of the group, "Hey, it looks li-Ah!"

Akane gasped when she heard him yell and was quickly at the doorway, "What's going on?"

There her fiancè stood, with a bucket over his head and he was dripping wet, standing close by him was his father, who was also wet, and he was laughing at his son.

"What was that for, Pop?" asked Ranma in an angry tone, as he lifted the bucket off his head.

"Looks like the Drowned Man water worked," answered the man with a smug smile, "You can thank me at any time, ya know?"

The boy gritted his teeth and flung the pail at his father, it managed to hit him square in the face and caused him to fall on his backside.

"I thought you wanted to get rid of your curse, boy?" wondered the old Martial Artist.

"I did, but it doesn't mean all that much to me anymore," replied Ranma, "Why should I be allowed to be cured when Akane doesn't have that chance?"

_'Oh Ranma...'_ said the girl to herself, blushing a little.

"What did you say about Akane?" asked Nabiki with a raised eyebrow.

The boy answered solemnly, "She can't change out of her cursed form, it's permanent."

The entire group; minus her fiancè; looked at Akane as she stood there in the guide's doorway. The girl looked down and with Ranma's shirt still around her shoulders she pulled it tighter to cover herself up.

"You mean to tell us she's stuck like that?" wondered her father.

"Oh no, poor Akane," said Kasumi in a sad tone.

Ranma nodded, "Mm-hmm," and added, "And the guide doesn't know how to cure her."

Soun and his 2 oldest daughters didn't look like they really knew what to say, this was about the most unusual thing any of them thought could've happened. They were used to Ranma's and Genma's old curses because they already had them when they had arrived at the Tendo's home. Yet they had never seen it happen firsthand and to have it happen to someone so close to them made it even more unbelievable. And to learn that Akane would never be the same again it made it all the more shocking.

Nodoka on the other hand smiled softly and walked up to her future daughter-in-law.

Akane glanced up at the woman, "Mrs. Saotome?"

Not having been around the Jusenkyo curses as long as everyone else, she also had been in a more unique position as Ranma's mother. When she had finally seen her son after years of seperation she also witnessed him change genders right before her eyes. She could've held Genma to the seppuku vow he had made, but she had decided to accept her son, curse and all, and she saw this as no difference.

She gave the girl a hug and told her, "I'm just glad to see you're okay, dear. And even though you look different on the outside, you're still the same person on the inside."

Akane cried into the woman's shoulder, "Thank you, Mrs. Saotome."

"You're welcome," chuckled Nodoka, "I'm sure everyone else can see it too."

It didn't take the woman saying it, but Akane's sisters came over and hugged her too. Of course her father wasn't about to be left out either, he hugged his daughter as well. It was going to take some getting used to, but it was the first step needed to get everything back to the way it was.

Night already had fallen by the time dinner was finished as soon enough everyone was getting settled down. The guide allowed his guests to sleep in the front room while he and his daughter slept in their rooms. It almost had a sleepover atmosphere to it, with all the sleeping bags laid out on the floor. It didn't take long for most of the group from Nerima to fall asleep, however there were a few that couldn't quite doze off.

Ranma had his eyes closed, he hoped that when he awoke in the morning that this might have been all a bad dream and he'd find himself back in his room at the Tendo home. The boy opened his eyes just a little bit and by the moonlight could see the other sleepng bags around him. He gave a soft sigh and was about to close his eyes again when he saw the front door open and a shadowy figure step outsdie. The teen sat up and noticed one of the sleeping bags was empty, Akane's bag. Slowly he made his way over and opened the door slightly to look out. There he saw the girl sit down and curl up into an upright ball.

Akane had her arms wrapped tight around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. It had been one of the most eventful days since the failed wedding and she still couldn't believe how much was going to change now. She had anticipatied living as normal a life as she could with a fiancè that didn't switch genders with a splash of water and she certainly wasn't expecting to come away from this vacation with her own curse. It was all so much for her to take in, she felt she could use some help and thought some time alone would do the trick.

A single tear escaped the girl's eye as she thought about what would happen when they got back, _'What am I gonna do?'_ She didn't hear her visitor approach.

"Hey," said the boy quietly.

Akane looked up at him, "Hey."

"You okay?" he wondered.

"I think so," she said, repeating the same answer she gave him after the incident. She added, "It's easier to walk around now than it was before. I think I'm getting used to this body."

"That's good," Ranma sat down next to her, "My mom's right, ya know?"

She gave him a confused look, "How so?"

"You may look different on the outside," started the boy, "But on the inside you're still the same person you've always been. A curse doesn't change your personality, you should know that just from having watched me and my old curse."

"But what's going to happen once all our friends see me?" she asked.

"I can't tell you, Akane," he told her, "That's something we'll have to play by ear when it happens."

The girl looked down at her knees, she had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy.

Ranma saw his fiancèe's downtrodden face and added, "But whatever happens I know we can get through it just like we have been."

"That's true, as long as we're together, we can handle it," agreed Akane.

The boy put an arm around her and softly said, "And no matter what you look like, it'll never change how I feel about you, Akane."

The girl smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, "Thank you, Ranma, that means alot to me."

Ranma placed his head against hers and replied, "You're welcome, Akane."

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><p>If you think I should write more of this, and how you likeddisliked this story, please let me know in comments. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or it's characters, they are the rightful property of Rumiko Takahashi. I also do not own the basis of this story as the idea came from tehninjabunneh's drawing http(colon)/tehninjabunneh(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Akane-after-Jusenkyo-48681085 (copy, replace and paste to see the drawing). I offered to write this story for him and he agreed. I felt it was long overdue lol.


	2. Chapter 2

(Chapter 2: Makeover)

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><p>When Ranma awoke the next morning it was to the glaring light of the sun as it was rising on the horizon. Blinking a few times it was then that he recognized his surroundings and saw the sunlight was actually reflecting off the pools of water that made up the Jusenkyo springs. He began to stir, but then he noticed the weight on his shoulder. The boy looked down and saw a head of red hair resting comfortably there. That was when the last thing he could remember came back to him: he and Akane were sitting under the stars, huddled close together.<p>

He smiled and thought to himself, _'Hmm... we musta fell asleep.'_

Ranma slowly reached his free hand up to wake her, when he felt something slide off his arm. He glanced down and saw he had a blanket wrapped around him, he also saw it was around Akane as well. He turned his head back towards the guide's house and saw the door was open just a little.

_'Mom...'_ chuckled the boy with a grin, _'Leave it to her to do something like that.'_

He knew he couldn't linger in having his fiancèe by his side like that, their relationship was already on shaky ground with all the interference by their fathers, but he would take in as much as he'd be allowed.

"Akane?" he whispered, just loud enough for the two of them.

The girl groaned softly, but did not stir.

"Akane?" repeated the boy, he also shrugged the shoulder she was resting on.

"Mmm.." she moaned as she lifted her head and blinked her eyes.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," smiled Ranma.

The girl giggled, "Morning."

Akane picked her head up all the way and glanced around at her surroundings. A look appeared on her face that was a mixture of worry and disbelief. Ranma took notice, especially when his fiancèe turned and looked at him with that same expression still there.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"So it wasn't a dream?" wondered the girl, she hoped he would tell her what happened was only in her head.

He sighed lightly and told her, "I'm sorry, Akane, but it wasn't a dream."

She closed her eyes and dropped them down, "I was afraid of that. What are we gonna do?"

"I'm not sure, but right now I think it'd be better for us to get back inside. If we get caught out here like this, we'll have some explaining to do," answered the boy.

Confused, Akane looked at him and replied, "Hmm?"

Ranma lifted up the blanket and showed it to her.

The girl's eyes opened wide, "We didn't have that before we fell asleep."

The boy told her, "I think my mom gave it to us, to keep us warm out here."

Akane sighed, "Good, at least we know she can keep a secret."

"Yeah," agreed Ranma, he smiled and added, "Come on, I'll help you up."

The girl nodded and after the boy stood up, he reached down, she grabbed his hands and he lifted her to her feet. They unwittingly got caught up in the moment, they both stared into each others' eyes before they began to blush.

He blinked a few times, looked to come to his senses and said, "Akane?"

"What?" she replied.

"I didn't notice it earlier, but your skin color is different," he told her.

"It is? Really?" she answered, before she looked down at her hands and arms, "Huh, looks that way."

Now that both of them could get a better look at her new body in the rising sunlight, her skin did in fact look different. It was no longer a lighter shade than her older sisters, now her skin tone actually resembled theirs if not a touch darker. Out of all those changes she went through, the only things that look to have remained of the old Akane were her facial features and her height. This made the boy wonder what other things had stayed the same.

Ranma, being the gentleman, took the blanket off his shoulders and put it completely on his fiancèe's back. She smiled at him and he returned it. They both went back to the Jusenkyo guide's home, opened the door and saw the rest of their group was still asleep. The couple smiled at each other and quietly made their way to their sleeping bags. It was hardly five minutes afterwards that the boy's father woke up and the first person he decided to wake up was his son.

"Hey, boy, time to get up," said the man.

Ranma feigned sleep, groaned and barely opened an eye, "What do you want, old man?"

"Get up, I want to get some training done," answered Genma.

The boy looked at his father with both eyes, "Are you out of your mind? We just got rid of our curses and now you want to go training in the _exact_same place where we got them?"

"And your point is?" wondered his father like he hadn't said something wrong, "This is a perfect opportunity to get in a little early morning sparring match."

Before he pulled his sleeping bag over his head, Ranma told the man, "You can go knock yourself out, Pop, but I'm not falling for it again. Having had one curse is enough for me, but if you want another one go ahead, I won't stop you."

Genma wasn't amused by his boy's attitude, "What is wrong with you, Ranma?"

Ranma flipped his sleeping bag off his body, sat up and looked at his father. In an angry tone he answered, "'What's wrong' is I have a father that keeps making idiotic decisions. Don't you get it? Having a sparring match here is just like begging to be cursed again. If you want a match so badly, I'll give you one and I'll be aiming for the Drowned Fish spring. Maybe then you'll figure it out."

The old martial artist couldn't come up with a response for his son's outburst, so instead he turned and walked outside without a word. It was at this time Ranma noticed everyone was looking at him, concern very visible upon their faces. But the boy couldn't care less, he finally had enough and felt what he had said needed to be said.

None of the others looked like they were going to say anything to him, knowing if they had they would've been next to get an earful. Rather, now with all members of the group awake, everyone started packing their things, because with Ranma and Genma having been cured the only thing left to do was to go home.

When they all had everything together, Plum and her father stood with the group from Nerima at the entrance. The boy and his father stood away from each other, their fight fresh in their minds.

"Again, I sorry we couldn't help Mrs. Customer," said the guide.

Akane gave them a small bow, "Thank you, for everything. You did what you could."

Plum spoke up with a determined tone, "Plum keep looking for cure. Will find way to help."

The girl smiled at the child, "I'm sure you will."

Soun said, "Thank you for your hospitality. Now we must be getting back to our home. Maybe we'll be seeing you again some day."

The guide nodded, "Maybe we will."

The man's daughter handed Kasumi 3 small wooden barrels and said, "Please take these with you."

The oldest Tendo daughter took them with a smile. Two barrels had the same Chinese markings on them and the third had different ones.

"What are those for?" wondered Ranma.

Plum answered, "Your friends, they cursed too, right? Water will cure them."

Akane counted them off, "One for Shampoo and one for Mousse, who gets the third one?"

"Umm..." replied the boy, unsure if this would be what brought Ryoga's curse to the surface.

Without missing a beat the girl responded, "Must be for Pantyhose Taro the next time we see him."

"Yeah that must be it," agreed her fiancè with a smile, while he thought to himself, _'If I can get that barrel to Ryoga without Akane knowing, he'll never have to worry about her finding out about his curse.'_

With their goodbyes said, the entire band of travelers waved farewell to the Jusenkyo guide and his daughter and started on their way back to the shore and their boat. There was very little in the way of conversing between any of them, mostly because of the thick tension that could be felt between Ranma and his father. The only ones speaking were Kasumi and Nodoka and they talked about the big feast they were going to cook when they got home.

It was nothing new when the boy had become angry at Genma, it was a fairly common occurrence that everyone was used to, but something about it was different this time. And to make it all the more confusing was how much quicker it happened the closer they got to the cursed training grounds.

Nonetheless when they reached the shoreline and got the boat into the water it seemed Ranma's outburst was long forgotten, because he, Genma and Soun worked together to get the ship ready and off on it's way back towards Nerima. Though neither of them really said anything to each other, the two Saotome men kept themselves as friendly as they could along the way home.

Thankfully the 2 days it took the boat to return to the docks it had left from flew by without any incidents from the Nerima crew. Almost the entire trip home Ranma stayed close to Akane, in case she needed a little help. She appeared to have no problem getting around now, but he still was concerned for her because he knew what it was like to have to get used to a new body. Though he didn't have as much trouble as she did after transforming the first time, he did stay in his female form to get familiar with the weight and center of gravity shifts.

The girl was thoroughly embarrassed by all the attention she was getting from her fiancè, it really was more openly apparent than she had ever gotten from him before. She was more used to it coming from times when they were alone and away from the prying eyes of family members or anyone else that they didn't want to know. But now it seemed to look like he no longer cared about any of the pretenses that used to be there. And if she didn't know any better, she could have sworn out of the corner of her eye she saw Ranma steal a few glancing looks at her new body every now and then. That was the most confusing part of the whole thing to her, because he had said it didn't matter how she looked. In the end Akane felt it was better to not worry about it.

When they pulled into Tokyo harbor it was early the second day after leaving Jusenkyo and they were lucky it wasn't too busy, just a few motor boats whizzing around in the water. The waves may have disturbed the water around their boat, but they were still able to reach the dock from which they had left with little problem. And once again Soun, Genma and Ranma worked as a team to pull the boat in and secure it to the dock. After paying the boat renter the two families made their way back home, with the boy and Akane taking the rear.

The girl was sorely aware that she stood out from everyone else with her new red hair, yet as people passed by her none of them paid any attention to her, but that still didn't stop her from hanging her head in shame, for coming back different than as she left. The only thing that would've made her feel even worse would have been a schoolmate seeing her before she got a chance to explain, for she knew if she was seen, the rumor-mill that was Furinkan High would be in full-swing by the time she entered the schoolyard. Thankfully luck was on her side and she made it home without being stopped.

Soon enough everyone went in their own directions, Kasumi and Nodoka towards the kitchen to begin planning the big dinner they had promised, the two fathers headed for the living room for a so-called friendly game of checkers and Nabiki went straight to her room and then out again shortly after for she had film that needed developing. That left Ranma and Akane to decide what they were going to do.

The boy didn't want to leave the girl's side for too long, but he also knew she needed some time to herself. He looked at her and asked, "You gonna be okay, Akane?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I will. There's something I need to do."

"Okay, but if you need me all you have to do is yell," he told her with a smile.

The girl nodded again and climbed the stairs to her room. When she shut her door she leaned back against it and looked down at her carpet. She stood there for a few seconds, waiting to hear a knock on the door from Ranma. She wanted to be alone for this and really didn't want him interfering. When she felt she had waited long enough, she pulled away fom her door and walked over to her full length mirror. Akane stared at the image that looked back at her and let it fully sink in. She touched her red hair and tugged on it a little bit and watched the reflected image do the same. That was when she glanced down at her body and with her curiosity piqued, the girl closed her eyes and took off her sweatshirt and pants.

Slowly she opened them and saw really for the first time what the Drowned Girl spring did to her. She noticed her new slimmer waist. Akane brought her hands down, ran them along her sides and felt the curvature she now possessed. She then put her hands over her stomach and could feel the bottom of her ribcage above her tighter mid-section. It all felt so alien to her, like she was touching another person's body, but she could feel every touch her hands made and knew it was her own.

Unable to help herself, she couldn't put it off anymore and cupped her hands over her bra. That was when she finally felt the bigger bust, but something didn't feel right though. Akane reached around, unhooked her bra and let it slide off her shoulders. She gasped a little, because she saw lines that were dug into her skin where the bra had rested on her shoulders as well as the same kind of pressured lines circled around her breasts. Now she understood why it wasn't hurting to wear the bra, it had been pressed against her skin since her transformation and she never really took notice of it until now. She then placed her hands on her panties, but there was no pressure lines this time.

Ranma had made it a point to mention how Akane's clothes felt tight in the chest and loose around the waist the first time he had to wear girl's clothes, but she didn't take him seriously then, mostly because of how he had made fun of her figure. But she could see firsthand that he wasn't joking after all. The youngest Tendo daughter continued to look over her new body in the mirror, turning around and viewing her butt, when there was a knock on her door that made her jump in surprise.

Thinking quickly, Akane grabbed her bed sheet and wrapped around herself, then answered the door and opened it just enough to see out into the hall. It was Ranma.

"Yes?" asked the girl.

Ranma looked very embarrassed as he stood there when he answered, "I umm.. thought you could use this."

He lifted his hand to show what he had in it, it was a bra.

"Where did you get that?" wondered Akane.

"It came from a bag in my closet," he explained, "I put all the girlish clothes I used to wear in a bag. I had planned on giving it to some needy cause, but I think your problem is needy enough."

"Thank you, Ranma," said Akane as she took the bra, "I hadn't thought of that yet, but half my wardrobe will be uncomfortable with my new body. That was really thoughtful of you."

She smiled at him, the same smile she's always had, and it made Ranma blush.

"If you want, I can go get it," suggested the boy.

"I'd like that," she replied.

The teen nodded and was away in a flash. This gave Akane time to put her new bra on and it fit perfectly with no pressure anywhere, the cloth laid snugly upon her bust. Once again she went to the mirror and saw how it fit on her and she liked what she saw. As she admired herself there came another knock on her door. The girl quickly went to the door and opened it wide without thinking. Almost immediately she regretted it because Ranma was in front of her, the bag in his hand and his face was becoming redder the longer she stood there.

"I...I...I..." stuttered the boy, unable to get the words out of his mouth.

Akane grabbed the bag and apologized, "Sorry about that, Ranma!" then she shut the door on him.

"O-okay, I guess I'll see you later then," replied the boy, before he returned to his own room in a befuddled state.

The girl threw the bag on the floor, opened it up and started to pull out the contents. She knew most of the time when Ranma was in his girl form, he usually wore the same clothes he wore as a guy, but there were outfits labeled as "disguises" she could wear. Akane separated them into two piles, what she could and could not wear. Among the clothes there was a school uniform that she could use and she threw it in the keep pile. Next came a nurse's uniform and not thinking of a situation she could use it, put it in the toss pile. It took a few minutes, but the girl was able to make a decent pile of clothes she could keep, though most of them she couldn't due to embarrassment. Those were the outfits she couldn't understand why Ranma wore in the first place, and the ones she wouldn't be caught dead with on.

When she finished she threw the toss pile back in the bag and put it outside her door. Once she had done that Akane picked out something suitable from the remaining pile of clothes and gave herself one last look over with the mirror.

She sighed and said to herself, _'It'll have to do until I'm able to go shopping for something more my style.'_

Akane nodded and left her room, for there was still one more thing she needed to do before the day was done.

* * *

><p>It was shortly after noon when a phone rang in Sayuri's room. Both she and Yuka were there laughing and chatting away the weekend, talking about boys and hunky movie stars like most teenage girls tend to do. The one girl hadn't been expecting a phone call nor were her parents, so she was cautious when she answered it.<p>

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hi. Sayuri?" replied the voice on the other end.

"Akane, hi! How was the trip?" the girl's voice changed to that of happiness upon hearing the sound of one of her best friends.

"It was nice," answered the other girl as she tried to remain casual.

"Did everything go okay? Is Ranma 100% guy again?" wondered Sayuri as she held the phone so Yuka could listen in too.

Akane gave a small laugh, "Yeah, he's all guy again. No more worrying about cold water."

"That's great for you guys," agreed her friend happily, "So when did you get back?"

"Just this morning, the boat ride took _forever_," answered the other girl.

Both Yuka and Sayuri laughed, with the one adding, "So you wanna hang out for the rest of the day?"

"That's kinda why I called," explained the girl, with a change in her tone to that of worry.

Confused, her one friend asked, "Why? What's wrong?"

"Can you guys come over and meet me in the dojo? I can't really explain it over the phone," Akane told them.

Sayuri and Yuka looked at each other. They had been friends with Akane long enough to know if there was something wrong they were the first ones she'd turn to.

Yuka spoke first, her voice a serious tone, "We'll be right over."

"Thanks you guys," answered their friend, "I'll see you later."

After Sayuri hung up the phone she said to Yuka, "Wonder what that was all about?"

The other friend replied, "No clue, but whatever it is couldn't be any worse than Ranma being half-girl, right?"

* * *

><p>When the two girls reached the front of the Tendo home it had barely took them 20 minutes to get there, it was easy since they had been there so many times before. They quickly made their way to the dojo and slid the door open, yet they didn't see Akane waiting for them. In the first split second glance the only person they saw was a girl with short red hair sitting in the center of the floor with her back turned towards them.<p>

"Sorry," apologized Yuka as she and Sayuri started to back away, "We didn't know someone else was in here already."

"It's okay," answered the girl. When she turned around they saw it was Akane.

Almost immediately the 2 friends came towards their friend and asked her, "What happened to you?"

Akane looked down and told them about Jusenkyo and her falling into the Drowned Girl spring. And before either of them could ask she also explained why she couldn't go back to her old body. Neither of her friends knew what to say, what they were looking at was something they had never had to deal with before.

"How is Ranma taking it?" wondered Yuka.

"His pride won't let him admit it, but I think he's blaming himself for what happened," answered the girl, "So he's being protective of me as a way to make up for it."

Sayuri asked, "What are you gonna do about school when our break is over?"

"That was one of the reasons I asked you guys to meet me," replied Akane, ""We all know the Furinkan rumor-mill will go nuclear once someone sees me looking like this and I'd feel a lot better knowing my friends know the real reason I'm stuck this way."

"Of course, Akane, you can always come to us," said Yuka, with Sayuri nodding along.

"Thanks," said the girl with a smile, "Another reason is now that I have a new body some of my clothes don't fit anymore. Ranma gave me some of the outfits he had, but more than half of them I wouldn't be caught wearing out in public."

Sayuri finished her friend's sentence for her, "So you'd like to go shopping with us before the day is out?"

Akane happily nodded then added, "If it's okay with you two."

Her friends laughed, "We're your friends, we'd love to go. We can even give you a fashion makeover."

"Oh yes, can we, please?" asked Yuka enthusiastically.

"Sure, why not," agreed their friend, "I've got a new body, might as well go all out with a new wardrobe while we're at it too."

"Great! Let's get started!" exclaimed the two girls.

They jumped onto their feet, grabbed both of Akane's arms and pulled her out of the dojo and enclosed Tendo yard. After closing the gate behind them the girl was more willing to go with her friends than just minutes before and the three of them made their way towards the nearest clothing store they could find. All the girl could do was watch as her two friends started going through the racks of clothes and began to make a decent pile of things for her to try on and they were picking so fast Akane couldn't tell what they were choosing. She really wanted to pick out something on her own, but since she was the one getting the makeover she had to let Sayuri and Yuka do the picking. When they had finished searching there were 3 piles of clothes.

Akane was handed one pile of clothes, then her friends pushed her into one of the changing stalls and they told her, "Come on, start trying them on."

"Are you sure about this?" she asked unsure.

"We're your friends, Akane, you can trust us," answered Sayuri as she gave her friend one last push into the stall and shut the door behind her.

The redhead sighed and dropped the clothing onto the little bench, she started to regret this makeover idea altogether, but she also didn't want to upset her friends either. So despite her uneasiness she stripped down into her bra and panties and picked up the first thing on top of the pile. Akane blinked a few times at what she had in her hands, it was gray and looked to be too small for her. The next piece of clothing wasn't any better, it was a pair of jean shorts that were very short.

The girl came to the door and stuck her head out to her waiting friends, "Can I ask you two something?"

"What is it?" wondered Yuka.

"Is this some kind of joke?" replied Akane as she draped the shirt over the door.

"Nope," said Sayuri, "Try it on."

"It's too small," complained the girl.

"Not really," explained her friend, "It's body-forming, that's all."

Akane groaned and retreated back into the stall. After a minute or two the girl emerged from the changing room and showed her friends how the clothes looked on her.

"Wow!" exclaimed Yuka, "They look great on you, Akane."

"Really?" asked the girl.

"Better than I had thought they would, I'll tell you that," added Sayuri.

Akane moved her hands up and down the shirt, there was no space between it and her skin, it was the same way with the shorts too. She could feel every curve of her body in this outfit. She could see them too when she looked into a nearby mirror.

_'I actually do look good in them, maybe this was a good idea after all,'_thought the girl as she admired herself.

"Go on, try the next one, " encouraged Yuka.

The redhead nodded and returned to the stall. Another minute went by and Akane came out again, this time in a white long sleeve turtleneck and a yellow miniskirt. She gave herself a little spin for her friends.

"Now this is something more me," she said out loud, "I like this one."

"I picked that one out," answered Yuka with a smile.

"Next one's mine," replied Sayuri as Akane went back into the stall.

After the first few sets of outfits the girl was really getting into it and started making it out to be a fashion show of sorts. Every time she came out in something new she gave a little flair and pose like she was getting her picture taken. All throughout the first pile of clothes there were so many different styles. There were various body-tight tops and skinny jeans to match and on the opposite side there were less formfitting shirts along with skirts of different lengths. It didn't take her long to realize her friends were conflicting each other in their clothing choices, yet neither of them were complaining about what the other had chosen for their friend to try on.

When the first pile was done and a few outfits chosen by each of her friends were picked as purchasable, Yuka handed Akane the second pile and the girl was ever more anxious as to what they picked this time. Again she continued to act like it was a show and eagerly put on each outfit with no complaints, came out and flaunted, posed and strutted over and over again. The girl was having a wonderful time, the most fun she's had in the last few days. It was so much fun she hardly took notice the second pile had more revealing clothes like plunging v-neck shirts, shoulder-less shirts and shirts that exposed her trim waist. There were also low-cut jeans and short shorts that went up past her knees. Nevertheless she tried them on and showed her friends how she looked in them.

Again like the first pile, Akane selected a few things to buy and then handed the rest of them back to her friends before receiving the third and last pile of clothes. Just like she had done many times earlier she tried a few of the outfits on and posed once more, but before she came out after like 3 or 4 pieces into the pile the girl noticed something that looked to have been hidden in the pile. She came back out in the last outfit she had tried on and stood there with her one hand on her hip.

"You didn't change, Akane, we saw that already," said Sayuri.

"Yeah, I know," answered her friend, "What I want to know was who picked _this_out?"

The girl held up what she was talking about, it looked to be a bikini.

Yuka looked over at Sayuri, who then admitted, "Alright, I did."

"Why?" wondered her friend.

"I thought with summer coming, you might want to have a new bathing suit," she told Akane.

"But a bikini?" complained the girl.

"Oh, come on Akane, this is just for fun," explained Sayuri, "If you don't want to try it on you don't have to, but I went to all that trouble picking out one that I thought would really fit you."

The redhead looked at her friend with eyes half-open in an unamused sort of way, she didn't like how she was being given a guilt trip. The girl went back inside the changing room without another word, but before she reluctantly tried on the bikini she searched the entire pile of clothing. To her surprise there were a few bras and panties stashed away in the pile, and they weren't just white either. She could do with some new bras, but the panties were too much. The worst offenders in her opinion was a white and lacy matched set.

"Very funny, Sayuri," called Akane from the stall.

"What are you talking about?" wondered her friend.

"The bras and panties," answered the girl.

"What's wrong with them?" asked Sayuri.

"What's wrong is they'll make me look like a tramp, that's what!" said Akane with a little shout.

Yuka spoke up, "How do you know that if you don't try them on?"

"Not you too!" complained their friend.

Her friend blushed, "I may have picked out one or two of them."

"I can't believe you guys would try and get me to wear panties and bras that look like that!" Akane yelled as she tossed the lacy set over the stall door.

Sayuri caught them and replied, "Just try on the bathing suit already."

"Fine," agreed her friend.

After a minute she came out with an arm over her chest and a hand on her crotch, very embarrassed to be dressed the way she was.

"Happy?" she asked, her face flush.

Sayuri shook her head and pulled the girl towards the mirror, "Look at yourself."

Akane glanced at the mirror before she slowly moved her hands away. She saw the reflected image of herself in the bikini. It had a sports-bra like top that lightly pressed against her breasts to keep them from moving much and the bottom piece was that of a normal bikini and it had a white stripe along the top. As she continued to stare at her image the confidence she had earlier began to come back and before long the girl put her arms behind her, pushed out her chest a little, cocked herself slightly on her hips and struck a pose in the mirror.

"See? It's not so bad, is it?" wondered Sayuri, who had been standing behind her friend the entire time.

Akane gave a smile and said, "No, I guess not."

"But you do have to admit something, Akane," started her friend as she poked her head under the girl's arm and put herself into the mirror's image.

The redhead turned and looked at her friend and asked, "What's that?"

"That there might be more to Ranma protecting you than just because he feels bad about what happened," answered her dark brown haired friend.

Confused, Akane asked again, "What's that?"

Her friend pointed to the mirror, "Just look at yourself, Akane, if you thought the guys at our school had crushes on you before, just what till they see you now."

The girl glanced back and she could see what her friend was talking about, in that bikini and with that body, even she had to admit to herself she looked hot.

"But what does that have to do with Ranma?" she wondered with a frown.

"He's a guy too," explained Sayuri, "And seeing you looking the way you do, he's probably more attracted to you than ever before."

Yuka jumped in, "You shouldn't say stuff like that, Sayuri, You know Ranma's not really like that."

"Oh, really?" shot back the other girl, "Why is it he's never told Ukyo or Shampoo to back off? It has to be because they had better bodies than Akane did. But now she can compete with them on a level playing field. So why not flaunt what she's been given, huh? At least now she'll get his attention."

_'But he said it didn't matter what I looked like,'_ thought the girl, _'Was that really the truth?'_

"I don't think Ranma would be like that," said Yuka, "He's a good guy and has really shown he cares about Akane."

"Good guy or not, a guy's a guy in the end," replied Sayuri, before she gave Akane's chest a poke and caused the girl to give an 'eek', "Sooner or later he'll be more interested in getting his hands on these babies than anything else."

The redhead covered herself up, thoroughly embarrassed again. She backed away from the mirror and hid herself in the changing room and after a minute or two without her coming back out her friends felt worried and sorry.

"Come out, Akane," said her friend, "I was just kidding around."

_'Even if she was,'_ said the girl to herself as she stood there, _'Could she be right? Would Ranma be after my body now that it's more attractive?'_

Soon enough Akane came back out of the dressing room, but she was dressed in the clothes she came into the store with and she didn't have any of the other outfits with her.

Yuka asked, "You okay?"

The girl replied though it wasn't with any happiness, "Yeah, I am."

"You wanna go home now?" wondered her friend.

Akane nodded, "Yes, please."

"Well I think this makeover has just become a disaster," commented Sayuri, "Do you want to take the stuff you picked out home?"

The girl stood there and thought about it, then answered, "It'd be kind of a waste to leave without buying some of the stuff I tried on."

Her friends nodded and while Sayuri returned the clothes Akane didn't want, she and Yuka went to the register to pay for the outfits she did want. On top of the pile was the yellow bikini and though her one friend saw it, she didn't say anything.

Only after the clothes were bagged and the 3 girls left the store with those bags in hand did the conversation they had drift away. It wasn't long before the girls started laughing again as they walked down the street and before they returned to the Tendo home, Sayuri and Yuka convinced Akane to get some makeup to go along with her new clothes. Though she protested at first, she finally bought some blue eyeshadow and red lipstick, mostly to get her friends to stop bugging her. When they entered the house the smell of food was wafting from the kitchen and it made their mouths water. Yet instead of going in the direction of the wonderful aroma they climbed the stairs to Akane's room and deposited her new clothes first.

"You guys wanna stay for dinner?" asked Akane after she shut her door behind her.

"Nah," replied Yuka, "I need to get home and help make dinner for my family."

"I can't either, my family is suppose to be going out for dinner tonight," said Sayuri.

"Oh, okay," answered Akane, slightly hurt by their replies as they started down the stairs.

"How about next weekend we go out for lunch?" wondered the girl's brown-haired friend.

"Yeah!" added the other.

The redhead smiled and nodded in agreement, "Sure."

The girl bade her friends goodbye and shut the front door behind her, then she made her way to the kitchen to see what Kasumi and Ranma's mother were up to. When she got to the doorway she saw the women working hard on the dinner they had promised for the family, pots were on the stove and pans in the oven and everything was going very smoothly.

Akane made her way into the kitchen and asked, "Can I help out?'

Nodoka and Kasumi glanced worrisome looks at each other before the elder woman replied, "Actually, sweetie, we've got everything under control here and we're almost done, so why don't you set up the plates and get everyone to come to the table?"

"Okay," answered the younger girl happily, picking up the plates and utensils.

It didn't take her long to set the table and she didn't have to find her father and his friend since they were already in the living room, however she did have to go back upstairs in order to locate Nabiki. Ranma on the other hand wasn't in his room and she knew if he wasn't there he was in the only other place he could be. As she predicted she found him in the dojo, but he wasn't practicing a kata or anything like that, he was just in the center of the room as if he was meditating or something.

"Ranma, dinner is about ready, you coming?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'll be right there," he replied without looking at her.

The girl turned to leave, but stopped and said, "Hey, um, Ranma?"

He opened an eye and looked at her, "What is it?"

Akane was silent for a second before she said, "Um.. nevermind. Come on, dinner's gonna get cold."

Then she turned away and shut the door behind her. The only thing Ranma could do was look confused at what just happened. Quickly he got up to go after her, but when he got outside the dojo she wasn't around. Instead he found her sitting at the table just as Kasumi and the boy's mother brought the food out for the family. It was one of the best meals the Tendo's and Saotome's have had in quite awhile, everything tasted so good.

When everyone had their fill, the eldest and youngest Tendo daughters cleared the table and both of them went to clean up the kitchen. After putting the leftovers in the proper containers and away in the fridge, Akane stacked the used pots and pans together as well as the dirty dishes while Kasumi filled the sink with soapy water.

"I've got things handled here and you've got school tomorrow, why don't you go take a bath and get to bed?" wondered the older sister as she started loading dishes into the sink.

"Yeah sure, thanks Kasumi," replied the younger girl, before she left and headed towards the bathroom.

Akane really didn't want a bath yet, she wanted to help her sister with cleaning up that wonderful meal and had planned to take one afterwards. But she also knew not to argue with Kasumi either, when she said she had something taken care of you could rely on her to get it done. So the youngest Tendo put it out of her mind, opened the bathroom door and started to get undressed. The redhead tossed her clothes into the hamper and hardly took notice of her fiancè's clothes already in there as she went to the door.

* * *

><p>With dinner over the only thing for Ranma to do was to get ready for bed and that meant taking a much needed bath for the morning. And after a half a dozen buckets of cold water the boy was quite certain now he wasn't going to turn into a girl ever again. Then he scrubbed his body up and washed it down, making sure to use shampoo and conditioner as needed. When he felt he had soaked enough in the hot water, the teenager climbed out of the tub and drained the water before he wrapped a towel around his waist as he reached for the sliding door, only to have it opened for him.<p>

In a instant the teenager stood face to face with Akane, each of them staring into the others eyes for the longest time. Realizing what was going on, Ranma immediately closed his eyes and braced himself because he remembered the last time this had happened she smacked him across the face.

Instead of hitting him, she spoke in an unsure tone, "Ranma?"

The boy opened his eyes just a little at first to see what had happened to his supposed slap to the cheek, when he saw his fiancèe had her face turned slightly away and her eyes were diverted to the side.

He blinked a few times and asked, "What is it, Akane?"

Akane blushed as she replied, "Umm... do you find me more attractive in this body?"

"W-why are you asking me that?" wondered the boy, trying not to look anywhere else but her face.

"Sayuri said the only reason you're acting the way you are is because you're more attracted to me now that I have a sexier body," explained the redhead as she placed an arm across her chest, "I need to know if what you said was really the truth. Are you sure it doesn't matter what I look like, that your feelings for me haven't changed?"

Ranma did his best not to look at her naked body, pushing the limits of his restraint to keep his gaze on her face. When he used to change into a girl he had no problems with looking at his own body, because even though it was female it was still his body, however that doesn't mean he'd feel as comfortable looking if that same body type was standing across from him on someone else. It looked like he had pushed himself as far as he could, for he took one glance down at her body before he turned his eyes away.

Very softly he told her, "As a matter of fact it doesn't matter to me what you look like."

Akane gave a little gasp as she looked at him, "Really?"

He nodded when he looked back at her, "It wasn't your body that made me feel the way I do about you, Akane. It is what's inside of you that did that."

"Ranma..." the girl's voice trailed off, amazed at how candid he was being with her, she smiled and added, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Akane," he said, giving her an uneasy smile, glad she wasn't upset with him at seeing her naked.

That was when she did something really unexpected. Without warning the redhead wrapped her arms around his neck and she hugged him, pressing her chest up into his own. This act alone made all the blood rush to Ranma's face and it made him unable to think of anything to do in that moment. It wasn't until she laid her cheek onto his bare chest that he finally reacted by putting his arms around her and holding her close. The girl sighed happily, lost in the moment of the embrace.

When it seemed enough time had passed, Ranma spoke up, "Umm.. Akane?"

The girl happily said, "Yes?"

"W-weren't you gonna take a bath?" he asked her, hoping she might remember.

Akane's eyes shot open. She pulled away from him and chuckled nervously, "Yeah, I was, wasn't I?"

The boy blushed and gave a little laugh before he sidestepped out of her way and let her into the shower room before he shut the door behind him. He closed his eyes and let out his held breath, for he knew he had also sidestepped a disaster.

The girl spoke softly thru the door, "Thank you again, Ranma."

"You're welcome, Akane," he replied, thinking to himself as he got dressed, _'You're welcome.'_


End file.
